Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of
Human
Subjects
of
Research
,
19
that the inviolable principles were articulated on how to treat people as
research subjects. Basically this consists of three requirements: (1) respect for persons; (2) beneficence;
and (3) justice. These topics will be considered in much detail throughout this text, especially in
Chapter 5.
ANIMAL
TESTING
Respect for animals has increasingly been integrated into the Western ethos, including rethinking the
majority of the utilitarian perspectives within the medical and biological research communities. Animals
have played a key role in biomedical research and technological development (see Chapter 5).
Animal research points to some of the problems of the popularly held utilitarian ethical framework,
especially how the model influences compartmentalization and objectification.
Compartmentalization in thinking is not only a division of labor, but it is often a survival mechanism
for many professionals engaged in having to live with an ethical decision. This was best demonstrated
in my recent discussion with author and veterinarian, Richard Orzeck,
20
who candidly shared the
following case:
During my second tour of duty through Cornell's pathology department, I was working late one weekday
afternoon in the hospital's postmortem room performing an autopsy on a young Labrador who had died
unexpectedly from no obvious cause, when one of my friends from the junior class walked into the room
leading a dapple-gray, quarter horse mare. The pathology professor and I had just finished a long and
detailed study of the poor dog's lungs and heart when he decided that we both needed a short break. Having
nothing else to do while he was out smoking his cigarette, I went over to chitchat with my underclassman
colleague.
As she stood there holding the silent and unusually well-behaved horse by its lead, we talked about all of
the exciting things that vet students talk about when they're able to find the time: how our classes were going,
how my rotations were going, and how demanding all of the professors were. After a couple of minutes of
this small talk, I casually asked her what she was doing with the horse here in this room normally set aside
for studying the dead.
Her eager and straightforward answer surprised me. She said that the animal was a donation to the college
by an owner who, for whatever reason, no longer wanted it. She said that she had been working with a
research professor after classes on a project focused on degenerative joint diseases in racing and performance
horses, and that the animal was part of their study.
Reaching over to stroke the horse's neck, I looked into eyes of my future colleague and smiled as I
congratulated her on being asked to be part of this research project. As a student research assistant, even
though the job mostly involves doing all the “dirty work” such as mucking out the stalls and feeding and
caring for the research subjects, you do get to interact on a higher level with the doctors and professors in
charge. And it can all be pretty exciting stuff, especially if a scientific or medical breakthrough is discovered.
Still curious as to why she was here in the postmortem room with this obviously healthy horse, I asked her
again why they were here.
A few of seconds of awkward silence ensued as I waited for her to answer. Reaching up with her free
hand to pet the horse on its muzzle, she finally told be that she was waiting for the professor to arrive. After
he arrived, they would
euthanize
the animal in order to harvest its healthy joint cartilage. These tissues were
needed as a
positive
control
in their research. And then she said no more. She seemed quite excited by the
whole thing, and I remember, just briefly, being a little surprised at her enthusiasm.
